Study into the role of the private sector in primary education for the urban poor in Bangladesh

Contents

Abstract

DFID has been funding both the public and non government 'no fee'
sectors in Bangladesh in order to improve education outcomes for many
years. These efforts have resulted in substantial improvements in
enrolment and gender parity. However, there continues to be a pressing
need in Bangladesh to improve the quality of education and focus on
education completion and attainment. This study was commissioned to:

Make an assessment of what role the private sector plays in providing
education for poor children.

Use this assessment to determine if and how a new market orientated
programme might be designed to assist Low Fee Private (LCP) schools.

Review possible ways and means by which this LCP sector can be
catalysed to strengthen the quality of education provision and improve
education completion and attainment by poor girls and boys.

The Report is presented in two distinct parts:

Part 1 commences by assessing the primary education market share of
schools and enrollment by type and category of provider in 2011 using
the government's macro data. It then makes similar assessments but this
time in more depth through a study of data collected from 19
upazilas/thanas. It looks at the main features of this provision from
the perspective of access, quality and choice, governance and regulation
and a consideration of the main drivers and barriers before concluding
by extrapolating some significant preliminary findings.

Part 2 provides details on two independent but complementary primary
data collection efforts that were undertaken during September to
November 2012 in the same location. Using Probability Proportional to
Size (PPS) 19 slums from Dhaka and 11 slums from Chittagong were
selected from a slum database that identifies 4,342 slums in Dhaka city
and 1,814 slums in Chittagong; in addition, a sample of peri-urban
locations – Savar and Keraniganj in Dhaka and Pativa in Chittagong –
were included.

The Household Survey comprises information collected from poor
households regarding the parents’ knowledge, views and perceptions on
their children’s schooling experience. The data includes an assessment
of the determinants for selecting a LCP or a non-LCP primary school,
perceptions on the quality of schooling, and the level of expenditure
borne by the parents. A total of 1,128 household interviews were
conducted.

The School Survey documents the level of enrollment, qualifications of
staff, and levels of revenue and expenditure across the different types
of schools and a comparison of their administrative and governing
structures and their learning environments. The school selection was
limited to areas sampled households resided or their adjacent areas.

A concluding Chapter summarises the main findings and extrapolates
significant features from the perspectives of access, quality, equity
and costing.

Citation

CfBT Education Trust. Study into the role of the private sector in primary education for the urban poor in Bangladesh. CfBT Education Trust, Reading, UK (2013) 63 pp.